


The Moon and the Sun

by Nerdletes



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:56:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7883017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdletes/pseuds/Nerdletes





	The Moon and the Sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puptart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/gifts).



The taillights almost burn your eyes. Of all the reasons to be late to your own proposal, stuck in traffic has to be the worst one, particularly when you are the one proposing. You spent all month planning; you spent the whole week decorating the house while she was out of town; and you spent at least a small fortune ensuring your spot on the beach would be clear so you could propose in peace. Hell, you even managed to get Sam to pick her up from the airport so you could pick up the ring. It was perfect. The only snag? You actually have to be there in order for any of it to work.

Irritation at the traffic is an understatement. How is anyone supposed to go anywhere under conditions like these? These cars aren’t moving. The taillights are all you can see for miles.

A thought strikes you: what if you’re late to your own proposal? She can’t say yes when you’re late to your own proposal. What kind of spouse is worth it when they’re late to their own proposal? It has to be worth it. It has to be perfect. You can’t— You press your phone to your ear.

“Heeylo?” Sam answers: a number you were only half aware you were dialing.

“Sam,” you breathe.

“Oh hey! Don’t worry everything’s going according to plan. I’m on the way to the airport, her plane should be here any minute, and then we’ll head straight to your spot just like you said.”  

“Sam, wait.”

“No, we talked about this. If you’re worried about how I feel about it, you don’t have to worry about it, and if you’re worried about Sara, there is no way that she’ll say no. She loves you, Five, and you know it.”

“Sam.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m going to be late,” you eke out.

“What? Why?”

“Stuck in traffic. It’s bumper to bumper out here.”          

“Oh, crap. You didn’t get caught behind that accident, did you? What am I saying of course you did. Before or after Kennings Street?”          

“Before.” You replied.

“Good. When you get to Kennings, get off and take a right onto Ocean, and you should get around it just fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Yeah, just fine. You’ll do great.”

 “Sam, could you maybe stall?”

 “You want _me_ to stall for time?”

“Yeah, just stall. You know, take a wrong turn. Stop at the gas station. Take the scenic route. I dunno, just. Stall. Please?”

“Uh, sure thing. I, after all, am the master of stalling.

“Thanks, Sam.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“No,” you breathe. “I think I’m okay.”

“It’ll turn out fine, you’ll see.”

You sighed. He was right. It would all be okay. Revving the engine, you pull forward to fill the gap between cars. Kennings is only about a mile away. Even going only 2 miles an hour, you’d be there in only a little over 45 minutes. Sam stalling would buy you about 20 minutes at most in addition to the 30 it takes to get there from the airport. It would be okay.

Blinking, you realize you still have Sam on the phone.

“Sam?”

“Yeah, Five?”

“You’re sure she’ll say yes?” you whisper, almost too quietly to hear.

“Yeah. I’m sure,” he whispers back.

Silence fills the car.

“Five, I’ve got to go. ’m pretty sure that was her plane that just landed, and I don’t want her getting suspicious.”

“Yeah,” you agree, leaning back into your seat. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he laughs, and you laugh too. You are lucky enough to get not one but two people you love and who love you back, and soon, with any luck, one would be marrying you.

“Keep me updated,” you finally managed.

“As often as I can,” he promised. “Now I’ve really got to go.”

“Okay,” you nod as he hangs up leaving you once again in your silent car.

Sam, always knows, without fail, just what you need. He is warm, and always knows the right words to say. He gets nice and close, even at a distance and let you know that everything is going to be  okay. When you can’t see straight, he helps you slow down, and he makes it easier to keep moving forward. Even when Sam didn’t have the words, he fills all your fears with love and lets you know with a hug that he will always be there for you, regardless of which way life leads. To Sam, you are brave and beautiful and perfect in every way, and when he looks at you, you can feel that way too for just a moment. To you, Sam is the sun.

But if Sam is the sun, then Sara is the moon. If Sam keeps you warm and motivated, Sara keeps you cool and collected. Her words help give you direction when you’re not sure you have one. She helps you find your own way and demands you keep trying even when you fail, and you know it’s because she knows you can. She lets you change. She lets you stay the same. She lets you be who you are and whoever you are, you know it’s okay. She is potential and determination, and beauty and fear. From her, a kiss lets you know that you are worth more and you are so much more than you have ever imagined you could be. Yes, Sara is the moon, and you are the sky. It is enough that you can see her in all her infinity.

Moving forward in the traffic, you pull out her ring. It’s nothing exquisite, but it’s exactly what you had hoped for. It was a thin silver band which wrapped around itself, three stands separating at the top to hold two small sapphires, one on either side of a diamond. You only hoped she would love it, and she would love it, you were sure.

Your phone buzzes. Sam. _Heading to the beach now,_ he texts. Sara had no doubt realized Sam was going the wrong way and started directing Sam. You check your GPS. Now you’re only about a quarter mile from the Kennings exit. 20 minutes have passed. That leaves 30 more minutes before Sara got to the beach. That leaves 29 for you to get there first.

It takes everything you have not to just put the car in park right now and start running to the beach. If you’re training for a half marathon you might was well use it for something useful, you reason, hands tightening on the steering wheel and foot tightening over the brakes. The only thing really stopping you is the fact that the car you’re driving right now is really, really expensive. That, and you’d never hear the end of it if you did just up and leave.

Traffic pulls forward again. Your car gets one car-length closer to freedom.

Asking Sam had been the hardest part really. Of going to propose to Sara, you mean. The biggest problem, you think, wasn’t getting Sam to say yes. It was getting Sam to mean it. Being in a relationship with both Sam and Sara, it felt weird asking if you could marry one of your partners while still maintaining the serious relationship with the other. Sure, both were aware and consenting of your relationship with the other (hell, Sara was even a little enthusiastic), but it felt a bit wrong proposing to one and not to the other. It felt like having to pick between two of the most important people you have ever known. It felt like picking between the sun and the moon. Of course Sam was going to say yes; it’s Sam. But in the end, Sam understands, and he’s glad to let you get married and still be in a relationship with him. He still means the world to you and you to him. The fact that he is helping you now is just another way he can lend his support. 

You turn on your right blinker and exit onto Kenning.  15 minutes until your arrival. 17 minutes until theirs.

Your phone buzzes again. _Getting Closer,_ it reads.

_stop texting_ , you shoot back. Sam is hardly the most subtle person to walk the face of the Earth, and Sara is quite possibly the most perceptive.

13 minutes until your arrival. 15 minutes until yours. You pull up to a stoplight and wait.

There is really nothing more you could have done to prepare for this, you reassure yourself. You start trying to fix your hair in the mirror.

Green light. 10 minutes until your arrival. 12 minutes until theirs.

The ring’s box feels heavy in your pocket. Is everything going to turn out well?

7 minutes until your arrival. 9 minutes until theirs.

Will you be on time?      

3 minutes until your arrival. 5 minutes until theirs.

Your phone buzzes. It’s a phone call, not a text. Your heart drops, and you answer.

“Are you here?” Sam’s voice demands the instant you bring the phone to your ear.

Red light. Whatever game of cosmic red light, green light this was had stopped being fun long ago.

”I’m at a red light, but I can see the beach from here.”

“Well that light better hurry up and turn green. Sara just went to the bathroom, but she’ll want to go home soon, and I don’t know if I can stop her.”

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon—”

Wait. Did that truck really just cut you off at a stop light?

“Just a second,” you said, setting your phone down and nonchalantly slamming your hand into your horn. That would teach them not to drive like a lunatic.

Sighing, you weighed your options before going back to your phone.  “I’m back.”

“Everything good?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. You sure she doesn’t know?”

“As sure as I can get.”

“Good. You know where to take her when she gets back?”

 “Yeah. Just park fast.”

Green light. “I will. Thanks, Sam.” You hang up and pull forward into the parking lot, taking the first empty space available and running to the spot you planned for it all to happen. The ring bounced in your pocket with each step as you hurried to get to the beach before Sara.

Down the stairs, around the corner, and by the cliff face—

“Five!” Sam waved, sitting on a rock.

You paused. If Sam was here then where was Sara?

“Hey Five.” The voice came from your right, and you turned to face Sara Smith dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and looking absolutely stunning in the lamplight of the parking lot overhead and the light of the moon just now on the horizon.

“Sara.” You smile, going in for a kiss and then frown, looking first at Sara, and then at Sam.

“Now don’t blame Sam. He really did try his best to get me to show up after you, but Sam’s not a great liar, and well, you know me, Five.”

Sam smiled sheepishly from his Rock.

You sigh, holding both her hands and looking her in the eyes. “So I guess you already know what’s going to happen then?”

“I’m afraid so,” she says and you look out toward the ocean. The both of you are just close enough to hear the waves crash onto the shore.

“But,” she continues at a whisper, rubbing her thumb in little circles around the back of your hand. “Just this once, and just for you, I’m willing to pretend I don’t.”

You meet her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Nodding you reach into your pocket, pull out the small black box and get down on one knee. “Sara Smith, you are… amazing. Everything about you is just so much more, so much better than I ever thought to want. I love you. Will you marry me?”

You open the box to reveal the small, silver ring. The light reflecting off the metal glimmers in her eyes.

“Yes, Five,” she took the ring and slipped it over her finger. “Yes.”

And with that, you stood up, and she pulled you closer. She brushed her lips over yours: soft at first, and then harder, firmer. You held her: soft at first, then harder, firmer.

And you kissed, the weight that had built up under hours of waiting, evaporating at her touch, her scent wafting over you, the sound of the ocean dancing softly in the background, and something new: a small ring whose finger was tracing its way across your skin. She said yes.

She said yes.

You break apart, Sara drawing away just enough to look you in the eyes.

“So then, Five. I assume this means you’re taking me home tonight?”

You grin. “Don’t I always?”

Sneaking in one more peck on the lips, she slides her hand into yours. “Let’s go home then.”

You nod, turning to leave, then remember Sam still sitting behind you.

You hesitate, looking first at Sam and then at Sara.

The corner of her mouth twitches up and she nods. Thanking her, you quietly slide up next to Sam.

“You okay?” You ask.

“Yeah, it’s just. You’re getting married.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re getting married.”

“Yes, Sam.”

“No. I mean _, you’re getting married_! This is amazing. We have to plan everything. The colors. The location. I’m thinking the beach. It’d be perfect!”

“Five and I have a lot to figure out of course,” Sara put her hand on your shoulder. “I’m sure, though, we’d both love to have you as our best man? What, with you and Five being together and all.”

Sam’s face lit up. “Yeah! I mean of course I’d love to—I mean…yes. I would love to be the best man.”

“Well, that’s settled then.” Sara took your hand and guided you to your feet. “But for the time being, I’m sure Five and I would love to head home for the night. What do you say Five?”

You nod.

“Oh! Oh! Of course. I’ll see you both later then!” Sam said as you let yourself be led away by Sara toward the stairs up from the beach.

Stealing a look back at Sam, you mouthed a “thank you”.

“You’re welcome” he mouthed back.

“Now where did you park, Five?” Sara’s eyes flashed toward yours.

“Up in the lot,” you replied, hand tightening around hers and leading her toward your car.


End file.
